US Department of Defense Gives High-Security Green Light to Amazon Web Services

The Amazon-friendly Obama Administration has found yet another way to reward the tech giant from Seattle. Earlier this week, the Financial Times reported that the Department of Defense (DoD) gave Amazon's cloud computing juggernaut a high-security clearance. That means Amazon Web Services (AWS), as the enterprise is commonly known, is in the driver's seat to obtain very lucrative, often secret business from federal agencies producing and managing the government's classified information needs.

From funding and revenue perspectives, the approval represents a bonanza for Jeff Bezos' tech empire. Barring an act of folly, Amazon is now in a position to reap federal financial rewards for a generation. The formidable barriers to entry in this field would likely daunt all but the strongest, largest, and most connected players. Amazon's desire to grow and monopolize this consistent money maker should not be underestimated. Certainly IBM and other blue-chip firms, which have had their way in this arena for decades, will find Amazon's seizure of this financial high ground a "disruptive" business development.

Jeff Bezos doesn't have to send Barack Obama a "thank you" card. In fact, 44 sent one to Amazon's monarch earlier this year, when the president visited an Amazon warehouse in Tennessee and characterized its dogshit-wage jobs as an entry point to the middle class. One wonders why the most powerful person on the planet felt -- and continues to feel -- compelled to provide Amazon with such gratitude.

LinkedIn Launches Lawsuit Against Unknown Hacker Defendants

I know very little about American law and jurisprudence. My sketchy understanding suggests that a court case involves a named plaintiff and a defendant. (One exception is the concept of unindicted co-conspirators, first made famous during the Nixon Administration.) Today's twist from the land of the "rule of law" comes from (surprise) Silicon Valley. According to a Bloomberg News report picked up by siliconvalley.com, LinkedIn has initiated a lawsuit against unknown hackers. The suit alleges that the computer pirates created thousands of fake profiles, from which they scraped data from legit profiles.

One curiosity in the case in the connection to Amazon.com. The complaint charges the defendants "accessed LinkedIn using a cloud computer platform offered by Amazon Web Services." The report notes LinkedIn's intention to serve subpoenas on the AWS service, even though Amazon is not named as a defendant. It's an ironic position for the "world's largest retail company," don't you think? (In fairness, Amazon.com has always claimed it's a tech company.)

It's not everyday a subpoena is sent to an unknown counterpart via electronic communication. What's truly baffling in the Bloomberg News report is that no one thought generating subpoenas to unknown recipients was odd, unusual, or noteworthy. Is this really just another day at the Silicon Valley ranch?

Amazon Web Services (AWS) Expands DC-Area Presence, Big Government Alliance

Image: techcrunch.com

The commonwealth of Virginia recently announced that Amazon Web Services would add 500 employees to AWS' DC-area offices. The Cavalier State's Republican governor let the world know about this development via a news release. The story appeared on a slow news cycle in today's Washington Post.

The announcement and fawningly written WaPo article (which mischaracterized the tech company as a "retail giant") treated Amazon's decision as if it were the Second Coming. The piece pointedly noted how the average of the jobs' salaries would reach low six-figures. Meanwhile, the state provided Amazon with a $500,000 grant "to assist Amazon's recruitment and training." Why these supposedly high-tech, highly qualified applicants would need government assistance to become fully prepared for their new employment remained unstated.

The principal reason AWS is moving into northern Virginia's Dulles Internet-heavy corridor involves federal contracts. Free-enterprise Amazon has discovered the lucrative attractions of Big Government's data needs. Earlier this year, I blogged about Amazon's data storage contract with the Central Intelligence Agency. The pro-Amazon Obama Administration, enamored with Big Data's clout and reach, has intentionally or otherwise provided very useful services to Jeff Bezos' empire. Given that scenario, it is unsurprising that today's WaPo story observed that Amazon's Virginia "expansion follows an announcement this month by Amazon Web Services that the federal government had put the company on a fast track to sell it cloud computing services."

Characteristically, Amazon remained tightlipped about its plans. "An Amazon spokesman," the WaPo article noted, "declined to add more specifics, such as when the jobs would be added." Maybe the CIA has finally found its soulmate. The spooks could even offer it a codename: Sleepless in Seattle.

Report: Amazon Lands Contract to House CIA Data

Here's something to think about as you cozy up to your Kindle Reader: Amazon may soon be a CIA contractor.

As reported originally in Federal Computer Weekly and picked up by the LA Times and The Christian Science Monitor, Amazon Web Services has landed a $600 million deal to provide a cloud-computing "solution" for the intelligence service The two entities may be a perfect match, as both share a penchant for secrecy and a lust for data. The CIA at least has to undergo Congressional oversight, something Amazon often dodges artfully.

Both Amazon and the CIA also prefer storing data indefinitely. The CIA's CIO, Gus Hunt, recently told a tech-heavy gathering in New York that "connecting the dots" in intelligence gathering required the CIA to "collect everything and hang on to it forever." Amazon's M.O. is essentially the same as the spooks' approach to everyday business, except that Big A's clients and prospects offer up their data without question. The CIA just takes.

For some time, the Obama Administration has been cozy with Amazon. The Obama re-election campaign's successful use of "big data" showed the president's awareness of this tool's scope and reach. For some time, I've wondered why the Department of Justice would go out of its way to conduct investigations whose principal commercial beneficiary was unquestionably Amazon.  Of course, Amazon has the data capacity to make many things happen, even for an institution with unique needs, such as the CIA. Perhaps the calculation was that it would be best to keep Big A happy, and keep it on your side. Maybe some top-secret data business could be "accommodated" by the secretive Seattle-based firm. (Keep in mind that Amazon chief Jeff Bezos' "Blue Origin" project is building a rocket for manned space flight.)

Oh yes, for the record, neither the CIA nor Amazon would comment to the media on the reported cloud-computing contract.